PERCEPTIONS HAVE CHANGED.(rating of players' pitching efficiency in baseball)

Standards have been lowered in determining pitching efficiency

With so much offense in the game today, even outstanding moundsmen post high earned run averages

DETERMINING THE BEST pitchers used to be a fairly simple matter.

All it took was looking for starters with 15 or more wins and an ERA at or below 3.00. Some allowances had to be made for hurlers who had hitter-friendly home stadiums such as Fenway Park or the occasional pitcher who received little run support, but these exceptions were easily calculated.

With ever-growing offensive numbers and home run totals, the task of determining baseball's top pitchers is much more complicated today. Toss out Pedro Martinez's surreal 1.74 ERA, and no other A.L. starter finished with an ERA under 3.70 in 2000.

Just four players--Roger Clemens, Mike Sirotka, Mike Mussina and Bartolo Colon--joined Martinez in the sub-4.00 club, and they were all 1.96 to 2.18 runs per game higher than than the Red Sox ace.

Things were somewhat more balanced in the National League, where Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and Jeff D'Amico posted ERAs between 2.58 and 2.66. A dozen other starters were under 4.00, and Greg Maddux was fight at 3.00.